Rescued sailors make it ashore after five-month ordeal

US women reveal they had to abandon towing attempt by Taiwanese vessel after it caused more damage to their stricken boat

Two women from Hawaii who were adrift on a storm-battered sailboat in the Pacific for months set foot on solid ground Monday at a US Naval base in southern Japan.

The USS Ashland rescued Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava and their two dogs about 1,450km (900 miles) south-east of Japan, and brought them to America’s White Beach naval facility after waiting for a typhoon to pass.